Prince Friso (1968 – 2013)

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Prince Friso is the second son of Princess Beatrix and the late Prince Claus. He was born on 25 September 1968 in Utrecht. The official titles of Prince Friso were Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Esquire van Amsberg. Prince Friso has an older brother, King Willem-Alexander (1967), and a younger brother, Prince Constantijn (1969).

The life of Prince Friso

In 1986 Prince Friso finished his secondary education and then went on to study mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1988, the Prince continued his studies, this time in aeronautical and space engineering at Delft University of Technology, which he successfully completed in 1994. Between 1990 and 1995, Prince Friso also studied at Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he earned his Master’s degree in business economics. Two years later, he received an MBA degree at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) at Fontainebleau in France.

Prince Friso married Mabel Wisse Smit on 24 April 2004 in the Oude Kerk in Delft. The couple had opted not to request that an application under the Act of Consent be submitted to the States General. As a result, Prince Friso was no longer officially a member of the Dutch Royal House and he can no longer lay any claim to the throne. Prince Friso, Princess Mabel and their children, however, were still part of the Royal Family. After their wedding, they moved to London and had two daughters: Luana (26 March 2005) and Zaria (18 June 2006).

Prince Friso’s skiing accident and death

On 17 February 2012, Prince Friso was seriously injured in a skiing accident. He was buried under an avalanche in the Austrian ski resort of Lech. The Prince remained trapped under the snow for 20 minutes and then CPR was performed on him for almost an hour. As a result of the accident, Prince Friso sustained serious brain damage.

On the 12th August 2013 the Royal Family officially announced that Prince Friso has died at the age of 44 from complications arising from brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation sustained during his ski accident in Austria. He died at Huis Ten Bosch Palace, where he had been transferred after spending more than twelve months at Wellington Hospital in London.